Method of forming buttons.



H. HASTINGS.

METHOD OF FORMING BUTTONS.

'ArPucAnoN FILED APR.B. 1912. RENEWED FEB. 20, 1911.

1 ,Q 11 ,%'Y i Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

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HERBERT HASTINGS, onnoorrnsriin, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'IO .ART IN Burrows,

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Application filed April 8, 1912, Serial No. 689,258.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, HERBERT; HASTINGS, of

Rochester, in the .county of .Monroe and I State of New York, have invented certain" new and useful Improvements in Methods of Forming Buttons; and I do hereby declare the followingto be 'a-f-ull, clear, and

' its component elements and Fig.3 is a'face .view of the buttonsindicated in Fig. 2 showexactdescription of the same, reference benovel features being pointed out in the claims at the end ofthe specification.- In the'drawingsz Figure 1 is an invention in the, firststage-of manufacture, and I Fig; 2 is a viewjillustratingthe second step, or manner of sawing said blank into ing the tool by which the severing isaccomplished. g I

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate similar parts;

' In the manufacture of buttonsof vegetable ivory the blanks are cut from slabs ob tainedby sawing themsfrom the. sides, and ends of the vegetable ivory nuts (Plug telephas macroearpa). These nuts are in the first place carefully assorted as to size,-and experienced workmenv saw off-the slabs in such a manner that the largest available superficial portions of each nut is obtained,

having due regard both for thickness and 7 available area. A

My invention has for its object to provide a method for severing buttons from the above described slabs, or other work-pieces of similar nature, whereby the largest available portion of the material may be utilized with the minimum amount of labor and with illustration showing a double or compound blank embodymg'myw I Specification of Letters Patent. v 'P a tentd Sept, 25, 1917,;

Renewed "February 20, 1917. Serial No. 149,936.

the least possible waste due to the cutting action of the tools; which will permit co1npoundxbutton blanks to be parted and two buttonsfinish turned in one. operation, by

or of buttons of different size and outline.

In. illustrating my present invention I have shown in side elevation, by the dotted linesin Fig. l, the outline or general'shape of an ivory nut slab, and in this figure I have illustrated a compound button blank in approximatelythe position it would occupy in the process of manufacture. The compound blank, in Fig. 1,-is cut by two opposing rotary tools arranged in axial alinement,

one forming the rear face a and a portion of 1 the rim, and the other cutting the forward concave face I). This blank also illustrates the idea of producing from the slab two buttons of different sizes. In this case the outer button being the smaller is,'on account of its one of thetwo-buttons, as it can better be accommodated beneath the curved,or dome reduced diameter, preferably made the outer have its cutting edge so shaped as to form I the annular wall-Z)" of the smaller button, a

portion of the face of the larger button, as indicated "by a and so much of the rim a of said button as maybe desired tounitewithqa portion .of the blank a severed by the-other cutting tool. The compound blank thus formed will be subsequently severed to form thelarger blank A'andthe smaller blank -B,-shown in Fig. 2, the separating of tlie-blankinto its component elements being accomplishedby any suitable tool such as that indicatedi'at 0, which is so shaped and operated as to form a spherical line of severance, as illustrated, so 'asto provide the larger button A with the concave front face a and the smaller blank B with the convex rear surface 12 The dotted lines in Fig. 3 indicate the extent of movement of the tool with respect to the blank, which is preferably rotated while said tool is being moved transversely thereof. The tool is provided instance.

faces first cut on the blank, thus obviating any further cutting tocomplete the two buttons. The advantage obtained'by severing the; compound blanks by a transverse sphericalvcut is apparent When compared with a blank severed or cut so that the two opposing faces thus formed are plane surfaces. To give the front faces of such buttons the customary dish shape, they must be subjected to still another cutting operation and this, it will be understood, necessitates providing thecompound blanks with the necessary stock for this operationin the first The button' blank slabs, cut from the vegetable ivory nut, do not vary greatly inthickness, and this istrue irrespective of the size of the nuts from which the slabs are sawn.v I

It isqessen'tial' in the manufacture of all buttons that they be cut from the hard close texture ofv the nut'substance which lies near its outer surface, and on account of the pithy or hollow contour of the nuts, and the cracks and fissures leading outwardly therefrom, thethickness of the slabsiis fixed within very narrow limits.

portant. With these considerations in. mind, it will be seen that by adopting'a doublet blank, such as illustrated, which-is severed into its component elements by a tool .ma-

nipulated to. form spherical surfaces, the two buttons thus formed are virtually nested and they'can be cut from a slab the thickness of which is no greater, and in some in stances may actually be less, than the combined thickness of the finished buttons when these are placed. face to face or back to back.

Another advantageis found in that both of the buttons formed from a blank made in accordance with my invention may be cut Hence, fractional variations as small as one fortieth (1/4CO). of an inch, in the measurement of the thickness of stock required for a-given button blank, or doublet blank, is very im Further by forming the smaller button on the outer or convex side'of the blank a thinner blank may be used than if the button of larger" diameter were formed upon said convex side.

I claim as my invention.

l. The method of forming buttons consisting in severing a doublet button'blank into-two separate buttons by a transverse cut forming concentric spherical surfaces, intermediate the front and rear'faces of the doublet.

2. The method of forming buttons from a doublet blank consisting in severingit soas to form'a convex surface on one button and a concave surface on the other.

3. The method of forming buttons consisting in first forming a multiple blank each of the two sides of which shall be a finished side of one of the buttons formed therefrom and secondly severing said blank transversely so as to form-a concave side on one on the I of said buttons and a. convex side other. V

4:- The method of forming buttons consisting in first forming a-doublet blank w th 5. The method of forming. buttons con-J sistingin first forming-a doublet blank with onesideof two buttonsthereon and secondlysevering said blank so that the second side of one of said buttons is formed with a con-- substantially concentric curved front and cave surface and the second side of the other button is formed within said concavity.

6. The method of forming vegetable ivory buttons consisting in cutting from a nut slab of given thickness a doublet blank and subsequently cutting it transversely to form) two buttons, said cut being somade as to produce opposing'surface's other than plane surfaces, the/greatest combined thickness of Witnesses:

G.- WILLARD Bron, HENRY W. HALL. I

the two buttons so formed being not less than the thicknessof the blank from which Copies of thispatent may be obtained for; fiveycents. each, by addressing. the Commissioner of Patents;

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